wiredinUSA October 2014

INDEX

(CCA) communications cable without a legitimate CMP fire safety listing. The manufacturer did not have authorization touse the listingmark froman independent testing agency, clearly displayed on the distributor website. During testing the buyer found the conductors brittle, and his investigations through the CCCA brought the fire hazard to light. “I did not want to be the installer who burned down a school because I installed CCA cable. The day after I found out about the fire hazard risk, I immediately disconnected all the PoE connections and began to remove cable,” he said.

The cable’s jacketing was shown to have minimal fire retardant and smoke suppressant properties, and to include insulation materials not suitable for installation in buildings. Although the cables were marked as plenum (CMP) compliant and made with copper clad aluminum, the material analysis predicted catastrophic failure in the NFPA 262 plenum cable fire test, in violation of NEC fire safety requirements. CCCA emphasizes that copper clad aluminum is perfectly acceptable in certain coaxial cables and should not be singledout as aclass or typeof conductors to be avoided for other cable designs.

wiredInUSA - October 2014

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